In the television and motion picture industries, special effects play an important role. Special effects may be created by a variety of devices or techniques which are usually costly and are time-consuming in operation. To create special effects, various known methods may be used. One method is the use of models, the movements of which are remotely controlled. One disadvantage of a remotely controlled model would be its cost especially if a number of models are required. Another disadvantage would be the difficulty in controlling such models. Another method is the use of wires on which models may be attached. One problem with the use of wires is that the manoeuverability of the objects on the wires is limited. Another problem would be the difficulty in using the models with actors since the wires may interfere with or restrict the movements of the actors. A further problem with the use of wires is that the wires sometimes are visible to the viewer. A further method is optical printing wherein the object is superimposed frame by frame on a background film. This method is extensively used in the film industry even though it is a time consuming and costly method. A further method is to shoot the background and the object frame by frame and the object is relocated for each subsequent frame being shot. Again this method proves to be a very expensive way of creating special effects and it limits the use of certain backgrounds in that no movement in the background can be filmed at the same time unless each and every object in the background is relocated to produce movement.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing problems by providing a special effects device which is easily operated and controlled, relatively inexpensive, portable, and allows the filming of objects in motion as well as the background continuously and simultaneously.